5.  The applicant was born in 1941 and lives in Sofia.
6.  On an unspecified date in 1992 the Sofia district public prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings against the applicant on charges of large-scale embezzlement from the trade union where he worked as a financial assistant.
7.  On an unspecified date the fact that criminal proceedings had been opened against the applicant was publicised in the local press. The applicant contends that he was dismissed from his job as a result and subsequently had difficulties finding employment as a specialist in the field of finance.
8.  On 22 March 1993 the charges against the applicant were amended to embezzlement.
9.  Thereafter the case was apparently transferred several times back and forth between the public prosecutor's office and the investigation authorities, the last such remittal being on 6 February 1996.
10.  On an unspecified date it was discovered that the applicant's case file was missing. On 9 July 2003 the district public prosecutor's office ordered that the applicant's case file be restored.
11.  Between October 2003 and May 2004 the applicant submitted several requests to the Sofia District Court for a procedure to be initiated under Article 239a of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1974 (CCP) to have his case examined by a court. In order to deal with the requests the District Court repeatedly requested the district public prosecutor's office to send it the applicant's case file, which apparently they failed to do.
12.  On 11 March 2004 the District Court remitted the case to the prosecution authorities with instructions to file an indictment against the applicant within two months or discontinue the criminal proceedings against him.
13.  On 8 April 2004 the district public prosecutor's office discontinued the criminal proceedings against the applicant on the grounds that no evidence had been gathered that he had committed an offence.
14.  On 2 June 2004 the Sofia Regional Court confirmed the discontinuation of the proceedings.
15.  In an order of 20 January 1994 the district public prosecutor's office imposed a prohibition on the applicant's leaving Bulgaria, under section 7 of the Foreign Travel Passports Act. The prohibition remained in force throughout the criminal proceedings.
16.  On an unspecified date in 2002 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Sofia regional public prosecutor's office, seeking that the prohibition on leaving the country be lifted so that he could make a trip to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. On 27 December 2002 the request was transmitted to the district public prosecutor's office.
17.  In an order of 14 July 2003 the district public prosecutor's office refused to completely lift the prohibition on leaving the country, as more investigative actions had to be carried out. She suspended it however for a period of one month from 1 August 2003 in order to allow the applicant to make the desired trip. The applicant did not appeal against the order to the higher-level prosecutor's office.
18.  On an unspecified date in August 2003 the applicant obtained a foreign travel passport. He attempted to leave the country on 5 September 2003 but was not allowed and his passport was seized at the border because his temporary right to travel abroad had expired.
19.  The applicant asserts that on an unspecified date thereafter he requested the lifting of the prohibition to leave the country but received no reply.
20.  On 8 April 2004 the district public prosecutor's office lifted the prohibition on the applicant's leaving the country at the same time as the criminal proceedings against him were discontinued.